


Vignettes

by nonbiri



Category: Naruto
Genre: Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, M/M, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-20
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2019-06-13 06:47:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15358614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nonbiri/pseuds/nonbiri
Summary: Kotetsu reflects on how his childhood friend became the man he'd spend the rest of his life with.





	Vignettes

**Author's Note:**

> "Give me two hours." SIKE... more like two days. :)
> 
> This is not a full-fledged story so much as small snippets of stories. I've never written either of these two before, but there needs to be more material for the 100% canon gay married couple in Naruto. They deserve more love!!
> 
> Other characters tagged are just slight mentions. Ending is a little sad fyi.
> 
> This fic is dedicated to the interns who snuck a gay couple into the Naruto databook while Kishimoto was out of the room. Also dedicated to all the people who support this couple.
> 
> Danzo fans don't interact.

It had happened without either of them realizing it—at least that’s how it felt to Kotetsu. In retrospect it would have been surprising if he and Izumo _hadn’t_ ended up together.

The never-ending unrest and conflict between the nations left a lot of splintered families in Konoha. While Kotetsu didn’t experience loss to the same degree as some classmates, having Izumo always comforted him. Izumo. The friend who always helped him study before academy exams. The friend who spent so many nights sleeping over at his house that Kotetsu’s mom started calling him her ‘second son’. Even their teacher at the academy said they were always off in their own world together.

After passing the chuunin exams, the two of them were naturally placed together on almost every assignment. Spending all their time together gave Kotetsu and Izumo a fighting combo that few others could match. Even without speaking, Kotetsu knew he could trust Izumo to be completely in sync with him. Eventually, he and Izumo were placed together on a team with Asuma (Shikamaru was also on the team. The kid who _definitely_ intimidated Izumo whether he’d admit it or not. Izumo was always so used to being the strategist of the group.). It was a daunting mission for the four of them, but Kotetsu never doubted their success.

No one could have predicted the outcome of their mission.

Izumo had taken it far harder than Kotetsu did. Much like Shikamaru, Izumo was always working out strategies and working through intel. He was very much so the “brains” to Kotetsu’s own “brawn”.

One night, when Izumo had failed to show up to his morning guard duty, Kotetsu had gone to check up on him. It was there, peeking through the window, that Kotetsu found his best friend passed out on the ground surrounded by piles of note paper. Izumo had always been a meticulous planner. The papers had frantic scribbles, notes of alternative means of attack, and breakdowns of what little they knew about their opponents. He was inconsolable when Kotetsu woke him up and asked for an explanation.

The next day, Izumo was granted a short leave from his duties, and Kotetsu was tasked to take care of him. Even Izumo’s own family agreed that Kotetsu was the best one for the job.

* * *

 

“You really don’t need to do this,” Izumo complained from the kitchen table.

“Someone’s gotta do it because you sure as hell won’t,” Kotetsu said and placed the last side dish out on the table in front of him. He wasn't the best cook, but he would try his best for his partner. Kotestsu stood and watched to make sure Izumo would actually eat instead of tossing it into the potted plant like last time.

“Fine,” Izumo groaned and took a small spoonful. He barely chewed it before immediately sputtering it all out in front of him. He gave an accusing look up at Kotetsu. “Are you trying to kill me?!”

“Hey! It’s not that bad!” Kotetsu said indignantly.

“No, no. I now I really mean what I said earlier. You really don’t need to do,” Izumo shoved the offending bowl far away from himself at the table and waved his hand around it, “ _this_. Ever again.”

Looking back at it, maybe that was why Izumo’s plant had died a few days later.

The rest of the week had its ups and downs with Kotetsu, himself, grieving over not only the loss of their captain, but how close he came to losing his partner. It took him far too long to realize just how much Izumo meant to him. Far more than the feelings one would have towards a friend or fellow shinobi.

Kotetsu reflected on their relationship as he lightly ran his fingers through Izumo’s hair. Izumo rarely got much sleep, so when he finally fell asleep, Kotetsu tried his best not to wake him up. This time it was too hard not to. It just so happened that Izumo had fallen asleep on the couch with his head resting on Kotetsu’s lap. The contact started slowly. A few glances that lingered a bit too long. Always finding some excuse to brush up against each other while clearing the table or washing dishes. The night when neither of them could swallow their guilt over Asuma’s death, so falling asleep together in Izumo’s bed was obviously going to help them calm down.

“Kotetsu,” Izumo said, voice hoarse from sleep.

“Yeah,” Kotetsu’s hand stopped.

“That tickles.”

“Ah, shit. Sorry,” Kotetsu said and went to move his hand off. Before he was able to, Izumo grabbed it and tugged Kotetsu’s arm closer to himself in an awkward half-hug.

“This … it’s not comfortable. At all.” Kotetsu complained.

“Deal with it.”

Right. He had almost forgotten about that side of Izumo.

* * *

 

After Izumo was released from his leave Kotetsu had approach him in the office with the spare key he had borrowed. Honestly, Kotetsu had debated on whether he should return the key or not. It was embarrassing, but it reminded him of coming over to Izumo’s place with takeout (they had given up on home cooking three days in), magazines, and anything else that would help them pass the time. It reminded him of coming into a home to some kind of domestic life. With Izumo.

“Keep it,” Izumo said and pushed the key back towards Kotetsu. “It was,” he paused and tilted his head in thought, “Nice having you around so much.”

“Ha! You just want me to keep washing your dishes,” Kotetsu said. He slipped the key back into his pocket.

“It’s payback for trying to poison me with your cooking.”

* * *

 

They became “official” after the war. Nothing like almost losing someone to make you realize you’re hopelessly in love with them, right?

Neither Kotetsu nor Izumo came out and said it, but they worked with some of the most perceptive people in the country. It was much like Kurenai and Asuma’s relationship had been early on around the office—everyone knew about it, but kept their privacy.

* * *

It was completely unfair. After months of planning, getting advice from squad members, and even reading a couple magazines, Kotetsu thought he had planned out the perfect proposal. Something intimate, not too flashy, but enough to show Izumo that he was committed to him.

Which is why the sight of Izumo kneeling beside him, holding a ring, was the worst thing Kotetsu could imagine.

“Kotetsu?” Izumo asked.

Kotetsu realized that he had been freaking out in his own head for so long that he had left Izumo in kneeling in silence.

“No, no, no.”

Izumo’s eyes widened. “Wh…”

“No. I mean-- I wanna get married, but I was planning on doing it first. I planned it out and--,” Izumo’s ranting was cut off by a sharp shove that knocked him back onto the ground.

“Think before you answer like that, asshole,” Izumo said and covered his face in frustration.

Right. Maybe Kotetsu handled that the wrong way. He stood up from the ground and helped Izumo up as well.

“Sorry. Yeah. Yeah of course I wanna marry you,” Kotetsu said. “I just didn’t expect you to ask first. Or do it here.”

He looked around their surroundings. They were standing on the roof of their office building with garbage bags at their feet. They had royally fucked up some paperwork from their last mission and it had been tasked with redoing and reorganizing mountains of paperwork from other missions. Oh, and cleaning the offices up as well.

“It’s not really romantic.”

“It isn’t. I just,” Izumo paused and averted his gaze from Kotetsu. Really, both of them still had trouble being with any of the sappy romantic stuff. Even after all this time. “The sunset is kind of nice and, uh, I realized that even when I’m stuck doing something as awful as this… it’s not so bad if I’m with you,” Izumo turned back towards Kotetsu and grinned.

It was true. Despite how awful the “punishment” was, the time really had flown by for Kotetsu. Even on the deserted roof with garbage piled next to them Kotetsu couldn’t think of anywhere else with anyone else that he’d rather be. And Izumo was right, the sunset over Konoha actually looked pretty nice.

“So, will you stop messing around already?” Izumo said and held the ring out.

“Ah! Yeah. Gimme,” Kotetsu snatched it and immediately went to put it on. He frowned. “It doesn’t fit.”

“You have to take your glove off, dumbass!”

“Right, right,” Kotetsu nodded and tried to put it on again before noticing something. “Oh… it’s plastic.”

“It’s symbolic. It’s not exactly smart to advertise being married when you’re doing missions, you know,” Izumo said and playfully shoved him.

“Hmm, I think this is a warning sign that I’m marrying a cheapskate.”

“And this conversation is a warning sign that I’m marrying an idiot.”

“Yeah, but now I’m gonna be _your_ idiot.”

* * *

The wedding was small in size, but the absolute massive personalities of their friends made it lively. It really reminded Kotetsu that he not only had Izumo in his life, but all of their friends as well. Before anyone had arrived for the wedding, Kotetsu and Izumo had exchanged their own gifts to each other. Without having planned it they both purchased a custom blade for the other. In retrospect it should have been obvious to Kotetsu considering both he and Izumo focused heavily on ninja tools during combat, but it was still a great surprise. While wearing wedding rings would be too dangerous for missions, everyone carried ninja tools. But yes, maybe Kotetsu did still keep the shitty plastic ring in his nightstand, what of it?

During the reception, it was surreal seeing all of their friends gathered not just for someone else’s wedding, but Kotetsu’s own. Everyone from their past squads to those they knew around the office had come. At this point even Asuma’s daughter, Mirai, was old enough to be running around and causing trouble. It was comforting to know that even though Asuma himself couldn’t attend, a piece of him was there. Even if she was a handful.

The only thing that damped Kotetsu’s mood was the empty table in the room.

Kotetsu’s mother had taken the news of his relationship well enough. (‘I always thought of him as my son. It’s just a little different now, right?’) However, the rest of Kotetsu’s family hadn’t been pleased with his wedding announcement. They had effectively excommunicated Kotetsu after he came out to them. His mother got the same cold shoulder treatment just for choosing to support her son instead of abandon him as they did. Despite his family’s reaction, Kotetsu had hoped they would come around eventually and support him on his wedding day. Against Izumo’s advice Kotetsu had mailed out invitations to his extended family and even reserved seats for them at the reception.

Apart from one cousin who had shown up, dropped their gift off, and left, Kotetsu’s mother was the only one in attendance.

The night had gone on and turned into quiet the party, but sitting down to take a break from the dancing Kotetsu felt the absence of his family.

“Hey. Follow me,” Izumo snapped Kotetsu out of his thoughts with a quick whisper. 

“Ah. Sure,” he said and let his, now husband, lead him out of the main reception hall and down one of the dimly lit service hallways.

They ducked behind a corner to avoid any drunk guest from stumbling upon them and interrupting.

“You know everyone here cares about you,” Izumo stated as he held Kotetsu’s hands in his own.

“Wha--. I know that.” Kotetsu said and avoided Izumo’s intense gaze. He didn't realize he had been so obvious, “How did you—,”

“Because I’m me,” Izumo said, “and you’re you.”

The explanation really was as simple as that.

After all of these years, there was no other person who knew Kotetsu better than Izumo. Kotetsu would even bet that Izumo knew him better than he knew himself. They had shared their lives together. Sitting next to each other their first day at the academy. Caring for each other after deaths of companions and living in the aftermath of a war-torn country. Realizing that they had far passed the level of “just friends” into something far, far stronger. (Presently, Kotetsu was trying in vain to forget the time they got caught together in one of the storage closets at work.) And they were sharing tonight. Their wedding night.

Izumo was leaving soft kisses on Kotetsu’s hands while he spoke—something he had started doing whenever Kotetsu got upset.

“I can’t say I understand what you’re going through right now,”—most of Izumo’s family had been supportive of their relationship—“but I want you to know I’ll always be here for you.”

“Well, yeah. Isn’t that the whole point of getting married?”

“Shut up,” Izumo said smiled against his hands. “I’m being serious.”

“I know, I know,” Kotetsu laughed. He broke free of Izumo’s grasp to wrap his arms around him into a tight hug.

“I really mean it. It's hard to replace fami-,” Izumo started, but Kotetsu tightened the hug.

“I’ll be ok,” he said.

“Yeah?” Izumo asked skeptically and tilted his head.

“Yeah. Because you’re my family now too.”


End file.
